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Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth's atmosphere

Wurz, P.; Altwegg, K.; Balsiger, H. +27 more

The origin of cometary matter and the potential contribution of comets to inner-planet atmospheres are long-standing problems. During a series of dedicated low-altitude orbits, the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) on the Rosetta spacecraft analyzed the isotopes of xenon in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimen…

Surface changes on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko suggest a more active past

Jorda, L.; Lara, L. M.; Bertaux, J. -L. +53 more

The Rosetta spacecraft spent ~2 years orbiting comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, most of it at distances that allowed surface characterization and monitoring at submeter scales. From December 2014 to June 2016, numerous localized changes were observed, which we attribute to cometary-specific weathering, erosion, and transient events driven by expos…